Month: September 2016

I was greeted by the company’s VP. The company was looking for “genius” and “amazing” software developers. The place was open, with WINDOWS that allowed you to see the outside. Open communication was encouraged and so were telecommuting and flexible hours. Small staff with multiple locations. Then one of the members of their staff showed up.

He was dressed like a bum, wearing gym pants, a t-shirt and a long, untamed beard, greasy hair. His boss told us that was his way of dressing up. His boss was wearing a company t-shirt, cargo pants and at least his hair and long beard were neat.

Somehow this experience felt self-defeating. You show up with over a $100 worth of makeup on your face, nice clothes, resume in hand and researched the company’s history enough to show the VP that you have done your homework. And all of that gets trumped by whether you can magically conjure code while neglecting personal hygiene. And, if you’re male.

Someday I will get to magically conjure code as fast as humanly possible. But the crap spewed by the career development center at the university is pissing me off. I can’t find the right combination of a) competency and b) not looking like a bag lady, but “cool”. Dying my hair blue or getting tattoos are out of the question for me. My hair can’t handle that abuse and my skin would flare up (psoriasis).

So for now, I have to stick with wearing my black t-shirts, jeans and bright sneakers and hope I look cool enough to a recruiter to notice. On campus.